When Your Teen Starts Pulling Away (And What It Really Means)
Parent–Teen Relationship : Maintaining closeness during the difficult years There is a moment many parents quietly notice but rarely talk about. Your child used to tell you everything. Every little drama. Every silly joke. Every random thought that crossed their mind. Then one day… something shifts. You ask how their day was. “Fine.” You ask […]
When Love Looks Like Exhaustion
There’s a special kind of tired only parents of teenagers know. Not “I need a nap” tired. More like… “I have done the washing, cooked the food, cleaned the kitchen, reminded everyone about everything, and I still don’t know where the remote is,” tired. And yet… you keep going. On autopilot. Like a one-person household […]
When Was the Last Time You Told Your Child What You Love About Them?
I had a thought this morning at the gym. One of those thoughts that sneaks up on you between squats and stretches. When was the last time I actually told my kids what I love about them? Not corrected them. Not reminded them what they forgot. Not told them what they need to do better. […]
Are Movie Ratings Actually Guiding Us Anymore?
Or… have they become a suggestion rather than a safeguard? I sat through Joe’s College Road Trip, a movie by Tyler Perry, expecting some teachable parenting views as recommended by a friend. What I wasn’t prepared for was The volume of vulgar words that hung in the air like they owned the place Overtly sexually […]
Life After High School
“I thought my son had his career figured out… until one question changed everything.” My son always said he wanted to study Sports Science at university. He sounded confident. I believed him. Why wouldn’t I? He’s always been sporty — captain of his football team for years. But somewhere along the line, he realised he […]
Does Strict Parenting Work?
The first episode of Keeping It Real with Oyin, aired on Monday. We stepped into one of the most charged conversations in parenting: strict parenting. It’s a style that’s been praised, criticised, debated, and dissected, but what does it actually mean for teenagers and the families raising them? You know the type: “Because I said […]
Why Parenting Was Never Meant to Be a Solo Sport
If parenting feels heavy at times, you’re not imagining it. So many parents are giving everything they have, often without much space to breathe or share the load. We tell ourselves: “I should be able to handle this.” “Other parents seem fine.” “I don’t want to look like I’m struggling.” So we carry it quietly: […]
My “Pinch Me” Mum Moment
Last week was one of those pinch-me mum moments. My son’s rugby team made history for the first time in 20 years; they reached the U18 Shield Cup final… and they won 🏆. Temi scored a hat-trick — 21 of the 26 points — and walked away as Man of the Match. By the end […]
Parenting Was Never Meant to Be Done Alone
There’s a quiet truth about parenting that most of us don’t say out loud. We struggle… but we hide it. We smile at school gates while our hearts are heavy.>We say “I’m fine” when we’re actually exhausted, overwhelmed, and doubting ourselves.>We scroll social media seeing perfect lunches, perfect routines, and perfect families and quietly wonder […]
New Year, Same Child… But a New Opportunity
The new year has a funny way of putting pressure on parents. New routines.>New goals.>New promises to “do better this year”. But here’s the truth we don’t say enough: Your child didn’t reset at midnight on December 31st. And neither did you. What the new year does give us, though, is something powerful—a pause. A […]